caulfield12

Doesn't Melanie Hobson (wife of George Lucas of Star Wars fame) have some input as well, owning around 40% of the club at this point in time...?

Candidates for 4th and 5th starter, numbers 9 and 10 now in the fold, lol. Seth Lugo OR Nick Martinez likely back to the pen, with Wacha occupying that backend spot now. This Hamels move is also likely correlated with/to Drew Pomeranz's recovery (as Tim Hill is their only reliable LHR at current time.)

Who AREN'T the White Sox going to rely upon...you mean. Not an accurate parody. C+

Regional network Entering the 2021 MLB season Teams(s) Bally Sports Arizona, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, LA Angels, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Diego, Tampa Bay, Texas (affected) NBC Sports Regional Networks Chicago White Sox, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Francisco *** AT&T SportsNet (incl. Root Sports) Colorado, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle (first three affected, Root Sports not) *** Marquee Sports Network Chicago Cubs (affected through exposure to Sinclair Broadcasting) Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Baltimore, Washington*** New England Sports Network Boston*** Spectrum SportsNet LA LA Dodgers*** SportsNet New York New York Mets*** YES Network New York Yankees (affected due to exposure to Sinclair Broadcasting) Sportsnet Toronto Blue Jays***

Looks like the Twins are going to be much more isolated from damage on this than CLE, DET, KC. See second half of previous article. Very complicated situation playing out, though. The assumption is that a decade down the road, when baseball’s distribution model is rewritten, that model will leave its franchises worth more, not less... ..... Some are suggesting that MLB would like to use the Diamond collapse as a pretext to take greater control of local broadcast rights and mitigate those disparities (between small and large market clubs). An unpackaged bankruptcy could allow all 14 MLB teams to abrogate deals with Diamond, though the Twins won’t need a court’s help, because their deal is currently up. Unmentioned in all this is the fate of Diamond’s NBA/NHL broadcasts, with those seasons ongoing at the likely point of bankruptcy. There exists the possibility that those leagues could team up with MLB on a new broadcast platform or broadcast partner. Whatever happens, deals are now far more likely to be cut nationally because leagues realize they have a lot more leverage when negotiating for dozens of clubs instead of letting a local team negotiate for one. MLB recently hired ex-DSG executive Billy Chambers to a new role, specifically to manage local broadcast, telegraphing its intentions.

The buyer was Sinclair Broadcast Group, the second largest local TV station owner in the country, mainly known for controversies related to how those stations cover news. (Sinclair also owns cable’s Tennis Channel among other properties.) Sinclair transacted the $10.6 billion Fox Sports purchase with over $8 billion in debt. So disabuse yourself of the idea this financial crisis is about cord-cutting, a corporate parent that doesn’t “get” sports, or MLB’s archaic broadcast blackout maps. It’s about over-leverage, pure and simple. $8.2 billion of it, to be precise. (In case you were wondering, Sinclair sunk $1.5 billion of its cash into Diamond Sports Group (DSG), so it will not walk away from this whole.) Wait, so you’re saying Bally’s isn’t in trouble? No, never said that, but it’s not a basket case. In 2021 and for the parts of 2022 for which financials are available, Diamond Sports had gross profits in excess of $400 million. Meaning it’s not a distressed business when stripped of all that debt. Additionally, it’s continuing to sign market-rate renewals with sports franchises all over the country. Sports Business Journal reported this week that DSG just signed a rights deal with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and the NBA’s LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Indiana Pacers. Additionally, according to Ben Clemens of the respected baseball website Fangraphs, as recently as 2021 DSG signed the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, and Miami Marlins to multi-year rights deals all worth north of $40 million a year, which are “in-line” with rights fees signed by Fox and other RSNs a half-decade ago. If the sky is falling for the value of these rights, it’s not evident. That said, the RSN business is “significantly challenged,” said one sports executive I spoke to who didn’t want to be named. RSNs are almost exclusively distributed on cable and satellite TV and cord-cutting is a trend that is only growing. https://tcbmag.com/the-bally-sports-mess-explained/

What exactly are you having difficulty comprehending? It's a pretty straightforward issue for the Sox at least. For the rest of baseball and numerous fanbase out there, it's pure chaos.

But notice the White Sox only negotiated a five year TV deal recently. JR/Hahn knew this was coming.

Nothing. See definition of sarcasm/parody…

Well, that is his one primary skill, right? Sarcasm detected. This is the biggest positive news (bad for baseball, obviously, unless the local blackouts finally disappear) but the only possible way the Sox can actually compete this year. Cleveland and the Twins will now likely struggle to make midseason moves due to the diminished financial flexibility,, and perhaps to even pay commitments to the likes of Correa/Buxton or Jose Ramirez from the Guardians’ side.

The whole AL Central. Other than the Sox. A crucial $47-52 million for the Guardians now at risk. 17 total MLB teams, if you include the three with AT&T Sports Net…including the Astros. Partial impacts on both MARQUEE and YES due to minority ownership stakes in those networks related to Sinclair Broadcasting financial difficulties to the tune of $8+ billion.

As Manfred explained MLB's backup plan, the league would try to get the games aired on local cable like usual while creating a new option for fans to stream local games, which has long been forbidden under the usual RSN structure: When asked if he thinks MLB would be able to replace 100 percent of the revenue that teams were due to receive, Manfred responded simply "not in the short term." ..... Rockies/Astros/Pirates in same dilemma as AT&T Sports Network possibly imploding. https://sports.yahoo.com/rob-manfred-says-mlb-will-handle-team-broadcasts-if-bally-sports-networks-miss-payments-002531361.html The league has been preparing for DSG’s potential bankruptcy and anticipated Wednesday’s non-payment. If DSG cannot pay the teams it has contracts with, MLB is prepared to take over those TV rights and broadcast the games. MLB, which has been streaming games since 2002, is confident it can fill the void if DSG can’t honor its contracts. The Guardians’ contract with Bally Sports runs through 2027. They pay between $47 million and $52 million a year. Besides the Guardians, DSG holds RSNs with Arizona, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis, San Diego, Tampa Bay and Texas. It also has a minority stake with the Cubs’ Marquee Network and Yankees’ Yes Network. At one time the Guardians owned their own TV rights. Team owner Paul Dolan founded SportsTime Ohio. Dolan sold it to Fox Sports in December 2012 as Fox tried to corner the market on regional sports networks. Fox eventually sold its RSNs to Disney, which sold them to Sinclair for $10 billion in 2019 after it purchased ESPN. Sinclair’s timing couldn’t have been worse. COVID-19 hit in 2020, causing ballparks and arenas to lock their gates to fans. As the cost of cable subscriptions rose, more and more fans became cord cutters, preferring less expensive alternatives. https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/02/guardians-tv-season-stays-blurry-as-bally-sports-parent-company-skips-debt-payment.html

Yay, the rest of the AL Central might be wiped out, lol. Owning your own networks, priceless. Brilliant work, Rick Hahn. MLB (14): Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers NBA (16): Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs NHL (12): Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning "The annual local broadcast revenue accounts for about 21% of MLBs overall $10.8 billion. An estimated 90% of RSNs revenue comes from the monthly subscriber fees they charge MVPDs and vMVPDs. These carriage fees are among the highest in the cable industry. Because of its high carriage fees, at times, negotiations have reached an impasse, resulting in RSNs being blacked out. Presently, Bally Sports has no carriage deals with DISH, Sling TV and YouTube TV among other distributors." https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2023/02/15/sinclairs-bally-sports-is-on-the-verge-of-bankruptcy-upending-local-sports-revenue-model/?sh=7e23797a25df Ready-made quotes from Manfred in light of Bally/Diamond issues... “I think that the investment that the club has made in talent has allowed them to grow their revenue to the point that they will be a payor under the revenue sharing system this year,” Manfred said about a mystery team. “The trick for smaller markets has always been sustainability. He’s made a massive financial commitment, personally, to make this all happen. And the question becomes, how long can you continue to do that? And what happens when you have to go through a rebuild? But they have done a really, really good job of capitalizing on their talent to drive their revenue.”

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35668388/rob-manfred-mlb-ready-diamond-sports-group-pay-teams

No way in HELL times infinity. ES GET ESPN+ Why your MLB team didn't do what you wanted this winter? . But if your team wasn't quite so active, your reaction to the sudden onset of spring training might be something like, "Wait, what? That's it?" Obviously some teams were more active than others. Some spent a lot, some spent virtually nothing. But no team checked off every single item on the offseason wish lists their fans conceived in November. In a tradition we started a year ago, we're going to look at one possible outstanding item on each team's to-do list. But we're not going to grumble about these items. Instead we're going to channel the likely mindset behind the unfinished business and explain why the heck your team... https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/35659150/mlb-team-offseason-disappointments-2023-explained

Let's ask this simplistic question... When's the White Sox even did something good/positive, with the possible exceptions of being overly generous with Benintendi and HOPING that Grifol has the same impact on the team (even if it turns out to be an anomalous blip like 2012 for the Chicago White Sox under Ventura, and later evaporates) ???

Andrus averaged (4.4/4 seasons) 1.1 fWAR the last four seasons, prior to 2023's anomaly. He's another year older, too. We have seen this show, dating all the way back to Adam Dunn through Hahn's "regime" and the currently albatross Grandal transaction. We've seen the same exact regression from the likes of AJ Pollock, LaRoche, Melky Cabrera, Leury Garcia and more than likely Andrew Benintendi as he ages and gets away from the protection of that NYY line-up. His track record over the last 4-5 years definitely doesn't warrant a $75 million "buy high" deal, in the same way that offering Alex Gordon (yet another Royal) almost that same exact amount would have been ruinous had he signed. (The only Royal we could/should have even considered in the slightest was/is Sal Perez, fwiw. An actual clubhouse leader, that would be nice...I guess?) We will see the same exact regression from Seby Zavala, for example (Sox wouldn't know a catching prospect if Tim Anderson walked in off the community college basketball court and threw a bullet 93 MPH from home to 2nd base)...the Mets certainly experienced it with McCann with the overly-generous contract they rewarded him with. We're hoping for fool's gold from 2-4 middle infielders who have proven exactly NOTHING in the major leagues...almost making me rue the loss of Danny Mendick. ALMOST. We offer all the wrong contracts to everyone under the sun, but can't even make a token effort to retain Carlos Rodon or offer him a QO, then watch him become the most highly-desired LHP starting pitcher in the entire FA market one year later. BRILLIANT STUFF. Oh, and we misdiagnosed Escobar to bring in one of the worst, most non-inspired deadline acquisitions in all of White Sox history, Cesar Hernandez. And let's not even start on Kimbrel's woeful series of events that acquisition triggered....and Hahn was miraculously saved because Pollock was willing to take away less money to get out of Dodge and plant himself in a clubhouse with a genuine winning culture that wasn't already poisoned by almost neglectful levels of supervision and intervention over the last two years from a VETERAN coaching staff.

All starts with Moncada, Grandal and TA7... they set the tone for absolutely everyone in the organization, but especially Robert and Jimenez

Hi5? No poop analogies...

You need to send that over to Brooks Boyer and the season ticket sales agents/associates to work into their script. Twins and Guardians fans would empathize with their traditionally "cheap" ownership groups too, the Pohlads and Dolans. Total "job creator/disruptor" is JR, seriously.

What are the odds they hit the Powerball again like 2004-2005 series of 8-10 perfect transactions all breaking their way...starting with the dumping of Loiaza, Maggs, C Lee and Valentin? Cotts, El Duque, Contreras, Jenks, Everett, Pods, Politte, AJ, Dye, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Iguchi, F.Garcia for a boatload of "can't miss" prospects...??? We can't even get one fucking deal right on the button at the moment...except by totally sheer accident, like Rodon, McCann, Andrus and Cueto.

DeShaun Watson situation also comes to mind...multiples of victims, but the seriousness here as it relates to potential child abuse is a huge black eye for baseball regardless. To MLB braintrust, must be thinking luckily he's not on a high profile team in a hyper critical media market like Philly, Boston, NYC. Expect Jeff Passan to weigh in soon.

Ship has probably sailed until mid-May....

See Belle, Joey Albert Or Machado to a lesser extent. A Rod, when he went to Texas and Sox were supposedly a distant second as a stalking horse in the Boras race.

Then I will just defer to what Dick Allen said on this same subject...